Assassination
Melee damage- OverallC5.7
- PvEC5.8
- PvPB6.2
- LevelingB5.6
Stat priorityTwo daggers' weapon DPS (Mutilate needs daggers in both hands), hit to 8% vs bosses (poisons can miss), haste, Agility, crit, Attack Power
ArmorCloth or leather; leather with Agility preferred at every level
In a groupHeals othersHeals others: 0/3No heals on others; Rogues bring no heal or group buff.
TanksTanks: 1/3Evasion (8, +50% dodge 15 s) can briefly hold one mob; no taunt; Feint (16) drops threat.
Many enemies at onceMany enemies at once: 0/3Mutilate and poisons are single-target
Lasts without drinkingLasts without drinking: 1/3No self-heal: eats after fights (food, bandages); Energy needs no drinking; slow before Mutilate (30).
Keeps the others goingKeeps the others going: 0/3Nothing for partners: no heals, buffs, food or mana.
PvP controlPvP control: 3/3Sap (10), Gouge (6), Cheap Shot (26), Kidney Shot (30), Blind (34), Kick (12), Crippling Poison (20) -50/70% slow.
PvP burstPvP burst: 3/3Cold Blood 16-pt (25) with Mutilate 21-pt (30) and Seal Fate (35); Wound and Crippling Poisons; Rogues designed for top single-target damage.
PvP survivalPvP survival: 2/3Baseline Vanish (22), Evasion, Sprint, Stealth, Blind; leather; no defensive talents and no self-heal.
Best race and professions
OrcLeatherworking + SkinningB- UndeadLeatherworking + SkinningB
- TrollLeatherworking + SkinningB
HumanLeatherworking + SkinningB- GnomeLeatherworking + SkinningB
- Night ElfLeatherworking + SkinningB
Combat
Melee damage- OverallA6.6
- PvEA6.6
- PvPA6.7
- LevelingS6.9
Stat priorityWeapon DPS (any type, slow main hand for Sinister Strike), hit to 8% vs bosses, haste, Agility, crit, Attack Power
ArmorCloth or leather; leather with Agility preferred at every level
In a groupHeals othersHeals others: 0/3No heals on others.
TanksTanks: 1/3Evasion plus Lightning Reflexes +5% dodge, Deflection +6% parry and Riposte can briefly hold one mob; no taunt.
Many enemies at onceMany enemies at once: 1/3Blade Flurry (21-pt, 30): 1 extra nearby target for 15 s, 2 min cooldown; Blizzard: 'a little' cleave; only Rogue spec with cleave.
Lasts without drinkingLasts without drinking: 2/3No self-heal, but Warcraft Tavern: Deflection and Riposte keep leveling downtime low; safest Rogue leveling spec.
Keeps the others goingKeeps the others going: 0/3Nothing for partners.
PvP controlPvP control: 3/3Sap, Gouge, Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, Blind, Kick plus Riposte 6 s disarm (20) and Improved Kick 2 s silence.
PvP burstPvP burst: 2/3Blade Flurry +20% attack speed and Adrenaline Rush (31-pt, 40); no Cold Blood or Premeditation.
PvP survivalPvP survival: 3/3Endurance cuts Sprint and Evasion cooldowns 60%, Improved Sprint removes snares, Lightning Reflexes, Deflection, Vanish.
Best race and professions- OrcLeatherworking + SkinningA
- TrollLeatherworking + SkinningA
- UndeadLeatherworking + SkinningA
- HumanLeatherworking + SkinningA
- DwarfLeatherworking + SkinningA
- GnomeLeatherworking + SkinningA
Subtlety
Melee damage- OverallD5.2
- PvED4.9
- PvPB5.9
- LevelingC5.5
Stat priorityMain-hand dagger DPS (Backstab, Ambush, Hemorrhage) or slow main hand for the Quietus build, hit, haste, Agility, crit, Attack Power
ArmorCloth or leather; leather with Agility preferred at every level
In a groupHeals othersHeals others: 0/3No heals on others.
TanksTanks: 1/3Evasion and Ghostly Strike (+15% dodge 7 s) can briefly hold one mob; no taunt.
Many enemies at onceMany enemies at once: 0/3Zero AoE: Hemorrhage, Rupture, Backstab and Ambush are single-target.
Lasts without drinkingLasts without drinking: 1/3No self-heal; Stealth picks fights and bleeds keep ticking, but it still eats; slow start before Ambush (18) and Hemorrhage (30).
Keeps the others goingKeeps the others going: 0/3Nothing for partners.
PvP controlPvP control: 3/3Full Rogue control kit; Dirty Tricks halves Sap/Blind cost, Elusiveness -90 s Blind cooldown, Preparation resets cooldowns.
PvP burstPvP burst: 3/3Icy Veins: kills players within a single stun window; Premeditation (25), Ghostly Strike, Hemorrhage and Preparation (30), Cutthroat Ambush out of Stealth.
PvP survivalPvP survival: 3/3Vanish and Blind -90 s (Elusiveness), Preparation resets, Heightened Senses -4% spell/ranged hit, Ghostly Strike dodge.
Best race and professions- OrcLeatherworking + SkinningC
- UndeadLeatherworking + SkinningC
- TrollLeatherworking + SkinningC
- HumanLeatherworking + SkinningC
- Night ElfLeatherworking + SkinningC
- DwarfLeatherworking + SkinningC
What Blizzard's final notes before launch changed for this class.
Poised (new passive at 18): out of combat at full Energy, your next Energy ability costs 10 less
Before none
What it means Cheaper openers
Shank (new, level 24): 5 Energy, 10 s cooldown, melee: an off-hand strike for 50% weapon damage that generates 15 Energy and cannot miss; rank 2 at 44 generates 25
Before none
What it means A core Energy builder, central to several new talents
Poisons: Deadly Poison attack-power coefficient 0.009, Instant Poison 0.01
Before 0.0045 and 0.005
What it means Poison damage doubles its attack-power share
Slice and Dice and Ruthlessness no longer make a sitting target stand up (fix); Throw now uses its 0.5 s windup (fix)
Before bugs
What it means Fixes
Assassination: Improved Expose Armor row 2; Murder removed; Lethality 2 points +10/20% crit damage (was 5 points, 4-20%); Vigor row 3; Blood Splatter (new, row 3): Rupture +6 s, Garrote +9 s; Relentless Strikes row 5, 5 points: 4-20% chance per combo point to restore 25 Energy; Venom row 5, passive: Shank raises your poison damage 30% and poison chance 20% for 6 s; Seal Fate 3 points 33/66/100%; Mutilate 90% weapon damage plus more, and moved to "row 7 (was row 9)" per Blizzard; the trees have 7 rows and this file's table had Mutilate in row 5 (Venom in row 7, now row 5), so Mutilate most likely became the 31-point talent at level 40
Before different
What it means Mutilate probably moves to 40 (the 31-point row); Shank feeds poisons
Combat: Coup de Grace (was Improved Eviscerate): Eviscerate +7/13/20% and Death Mark damage and storage +7/13/20%; Efficient Strikes (was Improved Sinister Strike): Sinister Strike and Hemorrhage cost 3/5 less; Improved Sprint row 2; Composure (new, row 3, 2 points): Poised saves 5/10 more; Flawless Execution saves 15 Energy (was 10); Weapon Expertise row 4; Aggression row 4, +5/10/15% Sinister Strike and Eviscerate (was 2/4/6% with Backstab); Dual Wield Specialization row 5, 2 points +25/50% off-hand damage; Flash of Steel (new, row 6, 5 points): Shank +3-15 Energy and -0.4 to -2.0 s cooldown
Before different
What it means -
Subtlety: Hemorrhage and Ghostly Strike no longer deal far too much damage with daggers (bug fix); Setup row 1, 15/30/45%; Opportunity 5 points +4-20% Backstab, Garrote, Ambush and Mutilate; Dirty Deeds row 2; Camouflage row 2, 3 points: +5/10/15% speed in stealth and -2/4/6 s stealth cooldown; Premeditation and Serrated Blades row 3; Elusiveness row 4; Ghostly Strike row 4: your next Ambush or Garrote within 7 s needs no stealth; Improved Distract removed; Quick Getaway (new, row 4, 2 points): one more Sap target and +15/30% speed for 3 s after a Sap; Heightened Senses row 5; Hemorrhage raises your Rupture and Garrote 15%
Before different
What it means Dagger Subtlety lost a bug-driven damage spike
Subtlety: Quietus, Cutthroat and Thousand Cuts removed; Boot Knife (new, row 6, 5 points): Shank has a 20-100% chance to add 2 combo points; Death Mark (new 31-point, active): 25 Energy, 20 yd, 10 s cooldown, a Curse; a finisher that stores part of your damage per combo point (Garrote and Rupture at double rate) and deals it after 6 s, up to a cap raised by attack power and crit
Before different
What it means New capstone
Click or tap a talent to add a point; right-click or long-press to take one back. The link keeps your build.
Talent trees: data from talentsforever.com (CC BY 4.0), reformatted. Icons from the game client 1.60.1.70755. talentsforever.com · CC BY 4.0 · Updated 3 Nov 2026
